


Hope

by premiumcable



Series: TWD Fics [24]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: But a fluffy end, F/M, Implied Sexual Assault, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:18:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/premiumcable/pseuds/premiumcable
Summary: Rick and reader have feelings for each other, but reader hasn't told Rick what happened to her before she came to Alexandria.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @ grimes-slut! Enjoy!

Your sides were aching from exhaustion, but you didn't care. You had to get away from them, no matter what. The sight of a large metal fence greeted you as you exited the thick brush of the forest. You stopped, contemplating whether or not you should approach the gate, but the extreme thirst and hunger you feel answer the question for you. 

You slowly approach the gate when you hear the sound of a gun being cocked and look up to see a woman aiming a rifle at you. 

“Look, I’m not going to do anything, I have no food and no water. Please help me.” You plead, raising your hands in surrender. She looks down to someone behind the gate and nods to them. You let out a sigh of relief as the gate slowly opens and a young Asian man walks out towards you. 

“I’m Glenn,” He says as he motions for you to follow him inside. 

“I’m Y/N,” You mutter as you follow behind him. 

“Thank you for letting me in,” Glenn nods before telling you that you’ll have to meet with their leader to make things official. 

That was a couple months ago, it had been difficult to adjust to everything in Alexandria after everything you’d went through before you got there. You had found it difficult to forge connections with everyone, but slowly over time that changed. Rosita and Michonne had become two of your closest friends, but you hadn’t told them about the men who had kept you before. You hadn’t told anyone. 

The most surprising event was your feelings for Rick. As soon as you had been introduced to him, you couldn’t deny how attractive and kind he was. The two of you had developed a kinship and although you had thought about it being more, you weren’t ready yet. 

“Knock, knock.” You hear Rick’s voice call from the doorway of the house you were sharing with Sasha, Michonne, and Carol. You had been cleaning your gun at the dining room table and hadn’t heard him come in. 

“Hi, Rick.” You greet, standing up from your seated position as you walk over towards him. 

“What can I do for you?” You ask as you lean against the wall, facing him with your arms crossed. 

“I’m heading out on a run with Daryl tomorrow, you think you could look in on Carl and Judith while I’m gone?” 

“I’d be happy to, they’re such great kids,” He smiles at your compliment, before stepping forward and resting his hand on your shoulder softly. 

“Thank you,” Rick says, looking into your eyes deeply. The room becomes thick with tension and he looks down to your lips before leaning forward and pressing his lips to yours softly. You freeze slightly before slowly responding. His arm wraps around your waist and pulls you close to him. His hands run over your body as the kiss deepens. 

But suddenly you freeze as memories flash over you. You remember how it felt to have them holding you down, their breath washing over you, reeking of alcohol. You push Rick away harshly as you run out of the doorway and into the bathroom, locking the door and leaning your back against it. 

“Y/N?” He calls following you to the room, knocking softly on the door.

“Go away!” You cry as you slide down the door, resting your head on your knees. 

“You don’t have to hide from me, Y/N, I would never hurt you.” He sighs from the side of the door. A deep feeling of guilt washes over you; you'd never meant to make him feel like that. You knew he would never hurt you; you didn’t want to have a breakdown with an audience. 

“It’s not like that, Rick.” You mutter as you slowly stand from the floor and stand in front of the mirror, turning on the sink and splashing some cold water on your face to calm yourself down. 

“Then what is it like, Y/N? You’ve been here for months and we still know nothing about you.” You slowly open the door and walk out slowly. Rick is standing against the wall across from you, keeping still as if he thought any sudden movement would spook you. 

“Before I came here, I was in a bad place,” You admit as you slowly walk into the living room and sit on the couch, Rick follows behind you.

“We’ve all done terrible things to get here, Y/N. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of anything that you did to survive.” He comforts, but you shake your head softly.

“No, Rick; that’s not what I meant.”

“Talk to me, Y/N. You know I would never judge you or break your confidence.”

“It was normal at first you know? I was with a group, I had my sister with me. Things were good, but we got overrun. I was the only one that survived, I was on my own, trying to find enough food to just stay alive." Your eyes burn as tears form in your eyes, he opens his mouth to say something, but you hold your hand up, stopping him. If you didn't say this now, you didn't know if you ever would. 

"I’d come across a town one day and I was going through all the stores when everything went black. When I woke up, it was dark. I tried to get up and walk around, but my foot was chained to the ground. I guess I had been making some noise because three men suddenly came into the room. They were horrible, they kept me there for months. I was able to get free and ran like hell. That’s when I got here; if you and your people hadn't taken me in, I would probably be dead.” You admit, tears running down your cheeks as you remember those months of hell. 

“Did they?” Rick trails off, the remainder of his question obvious. You nod in response as you look over at him. His eyes close softly and he sucks in a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. You know none of that was your fault, right?” Rick asks softly and you nod in response. 

“I know that now, Rick. I just can’t get over it. I’m so afraid something will happen and I’ll end up back in that horrible room,”

“Where were you?” He asked and you remember the surroundings you had seen when you were running away. 

“Not far from here, they lived in an old cabin out in the woods.”

“Do you remember anything specific about the cabin?” Rick inquired, fully in cop mode now. 

“They never let me outside, but I remember that when I was running away, I noticed that the cabin had a red door.” 

“But please don’t do anything Rick, these people are terrible. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you or for them to follow you back here and find out about this place. ” You plead and he nods slowly at your words. 

Rick left shortly after and you spent the majority of the night crying. Telling him everything that had happened to you had brought up so many painful memories that you fought so hard to forget. 

Daryl heard a soft knock at his door just as he was falling asleep on his couch. Padding over to the door, he answers it to find Rick on the other side. 

“Rick, what’s going on?” He asks as he steps to the side, letting the man inside the house. 

“You ever come across an old cabin on any of your recruiting trips?” Rick asks desperately. 

“I mean, yeah, I’ve seen a couple, but we never saw anyone comin’ or goin’. Why?”

“Y/N was in one of those cabins. She escaped a group that was living in one of those cabins.” Daryl suddenly understands why Rick is so upset, he knew that his friend had been harboring deep feelings for you. 

“You want to go out and find them?” Daryl asks, already knowing the answer to his question.

“They don’t get to live,”

They leave the next morning at dawn, not wanting you to see them leave. 

“Did she say anything specific about where she was held?” Daryl inquires as they drive down the road. 

“She didn’t see much, they never let her outside. But when she was running away, she noticed that the cabin had a red door.”

“I know where she’s talkin’ about. Sad to think that she was so close to us and we never found her.” Daryl sighs, sadness coming over him that he could have potentially helped you. 

They drive for a few more miles before Daryl pulls over to the side of the road, shutting off the car. 

“It’s not far from here, we can walk the rest of the way.” Daryl voices as he opens the door and exits the car. Rick prepares himself for what’s going to happen if he finds them. He's going to kill them, not only for what they did to you, but he also couldn't have a threat like that so close to the community. 

They trek through the woods until they see a clearing in the trees ahead, and Rick sees the red door to the cabin where you had been held. They hang back in the cover of the trees, waiting to see if there’s any activity. 

Two men suddenly appear from the back of the cabin, walking around towards the front door. Rick can hear them talking about you and how they had been combing the area looking for you. 

“If we can’t find her, we’ll just have to get another one,” Rick’s blood boils at their words and he signals for Daryl to shoot. The man raises his crossbow and fires, hitting the man on the left right between the eyes. His companion has almost no time to respond as Rick walks out of the trees, his gun in hand. He raises his weapon, cocking it before shooting the man in the head and walking up towards the porch of the cabin.

The commotion outside causes the third man to exit the cabin hastily, looking around for the source of the noise. Rick punches the man in the face, knocking him to the ground as he pulls the machete from his belt and raising it over the man’s head.”

“Why are you doing this? Please, man, I’m begging you.” The kneeling man cries as he begs for his life. Rick laughs cruelly at the irony of the man’s statement.

“Did Y/N beg you too? Now you know how she felt when she begged you to stop and you didn’t listen,” Rick says before bringing the machete down, sinking into the man’s head with a sickening crunch. He kicks the man onto his back, pulling his blade from the man’s skull before wiping it clean on the man’s chest. 

Daryl nods at him when he turns around and they both head back to Alexandria, leaving the scene behind. The drive back is silent, both men not wanting to talk about what had just happened. The gate opens when they approach and they drive through. Rick ignores everyone’s questions of what happened as he makes his way to your home. He knocks softly on the door. 

You’d looked in on Carl and Judith a couple of times during the day like you'd been asked to. Rick had already been gone this morning when Carl woke up and you assumed he left for his run with Daryl early. You were at home fixing yourself something to eat before heading back over to watch the little girl so Carl could go spend some time with Enid. A knock at your door interrupts you and you leave your food behind as you walk towards the noise. 

Rick is standing on the other side of the door and you can see blood staining his white shirt. 

“Rick, what happened on the run? Are you hurt?” You cry as you pull him inside, thinking the blood is his. 

“We didn't go on the run and the blood's not mine.” He says and you stop in your tracks at his words.

“Rick, what did you do?” You ask slowly as you turn around to look at the man behind you. 

“You don’t have to worry about them anymore,” Rick admitted and you felt a rush of relief at his words. 

“You didn’t have to do that, that's not why I told you, Rick.” He shakes his head at your words. 

“I know. But it wasn’t right that they got to walk on this earth after the pain they caused you.” You look down at the floor, listening to his words.

“Hey, I didn’t do this because I expect anything from you. I did it so you can find some closure and move forward.” He says as tears fall down your cheeks. 

You couldn't believe that he had done this. It was the first time since you had escaped the that you felt like you didn’t have to look over your shoulder. 

“Thank you,” You say tearfully as you brush your lips over his cheek. He smiles at your gesture before turning to leave you to your thoughts. You reach out and grab his hand, stopping him in his tracks. He turns to look at you questioningly. 

“Just give me some time, ok?” You smiled as you squeezed his hand reassuringly. Rick nodded and stroked the back of your hand with the tips of his fingers before exiting. 

You shut the door behind him and leaned against it, a small smile crosses your lips as you feel something you hadn’t thought was possible anymore. 

Hope.


End file.
